Craig Dawson completes £3m Wolves transfer from West Ham as defender joins his FOURTH Premier League club

CRAIG DAWSON has completed a £3million move to Wolves from West Ham.

The defender, 32, will play for his fourth Prem club after previous stints at West Brom and Watford.

The experienced centre-back leaves London Stadium after 87 appearances in three seasons with the Hammers.

He helped David Moyes’ side to last season’s Europa League semi-finals – playing every minute in the knockout rounds.

Upon getting his man, Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs told the club’s official website: “Everyone will be aware it’s a signing we tried to do last window and it fell through in the end because the replacement West Ham were looking at fell through.

“Craig’s wanted to come here for the last six months, so it’s something we’ve kept warm and kept in touch on.

“His family are in the north of England, so for him it’s great to get closer to them.

“He’s a player we’ve wanted for a while, so it was great to get it done, even if it’s six months later than we wanted, but it’s good to get here now.”

Hobbs then added: “In my first interview, I talked about players who know the league are important.

“Personalities are important. We lost a few leaders in the summer with John [Ruddy], Conor [Coady] and Romain [Saiss].

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“We’re bringing another leader into the group, which is always a positive, but if you look at our centre-backs, they’re all relatively young, not just in age, but also the number of games they’ve played in English league football, let alone the Premier League.

“The amount of games Craig has played, he can be a foil for those guys on and off the pitch.

“He’s going to be a very good player for our squad and will be someone our young centre-halves will learn a lot from and will help develop those players.”

Dawson helped West ham knock Sevilla, then managed by Julen Lopetegui, out of Europe last term.

He will help bolster Wolves’ survival bid, with the Molineux club still embroiled in a tussle at the bottom of the table.

Lopetegui’s men currently sit 17th in the Prem, only out of the relegation zone on goal difference.

Dawson is Wolves’ third signing of a busy January window.

They previously recruited former Southampton and Fulham midfielder Mario Lemina form Nice, and Spanish international Pablo Sarabia from Paris Saint-Germain.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk